When you’ve grown up in the church as I have, it’s easy to adopt the state-of-mind that “I already know everything there is to know about God, I don’t need to keep reading the Bible to get it." Or maybe you’ve read through the entire Bible, know the order of books in the Old and New Testaments and have been in a Bible study every year. Those things are all incredible and I applaud you for them, but those details do not solidify the relationship that you can have with the Lord. Being well versed (no pun intended) with the Word is important, but so is continuously reading what the Lord is saying to you through the text.
Taking our own biblical knowledge for granted is too easy. Sitting in a bible study or even in church and hearing a story that we’ve heard before often results in us only halfway paying attention. But how fair is that to the One who put those words in the mouth of whoever is speaking that message? Proverbs 19:2 tells us that, “Desire without knowledge is not good, and whoever makes haste with his feet misses his way.” This encompasses the idea that we can seek anything in the world, but without knowing what the Lord has to say about our desires, they are worthless. In my personal paraphrase, Philippians 4:11-12, “Bloom wherever you’re planted,” but without knowing how the Lord wants to use us where we are, how can we bloom?
Not only is it important to read the Word for that reason, but also due to the fact that as humans, we need water. We need food. We need air. Well, is God not the “Fountain of Life?” Do we not read about the “Fruit of the Spirit” in Galatians 5:22-23? Is the Lord not the literal oxygen we breathe? If all of these things are crucial for human existence, then why don’t we earnestly seek the Word as we seek water, food and oxygen? It’s just as important.
We’re also human, and we forget things. I can say with 110 percent certainty that as a freshman in college, I don’t remember 80 percent of the things that were on tests I took freshman year of high school. Sure, I received a high school education based off of these teachings, but I do not remember how Mesopotamia came about, and I certainly do not remember each phase of mitosis. At the time, I could’ve easily aced a test on these very subjects… but I’ve simply forgotten. In the same way, not only is the Bible a guide to life, it’s a history book. Real occurrences are documented, the same way that wars and historical findings are documented in books we have to read for assessments based on the past. Referencing when Israel had completely turned from Christ as told in Hosea, the Lord says that, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge” –Hosea 4:6. How can we be expected to remember each miraculous occurrence in the Bible if we don’t remind ourselves?
Our minds are not word documents. We cannot read the teachings and stories in the Bible, click “Save,” and have them stored forever. We remember Adam & Eve in the Garden of Eden, but do we remember the names of the four rivers in the Garden? (The Pishon, Gihon, Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, as mentioned in Genesis 2:10-14). We remember Noah’s ark. But do we remember that the ark was to be made of “gopher wood” and “30 cubits” tall (Genesis 6: 14-15)? I certainly wouldn’t remember these details. “Why are things like that even important? We know what the stories mean overall." I know it sounds like a bit much to read that much into it, but the Word of the Lord is so beautiful. I want to know every bit of it, so that I can make use of every piece of this knowledge in my own life. It’s essential.
Regardless of age, spiritual maturity or overall knowledge of what the Lord has to say, we need the Word. The world today has such confusing and convincing ideas of what the Word states. “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the Gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” -2 Corinthians 4:3-6. We need to be reminded what the Word really tells us. Your soul requires daily doses of this knowledge. Being close with the Lord is incredible, and a gift that we’ve received. The Lord and Creator of the universe wants to be close with YOU. Open the Word and see what He has to say.
*Don’t know where to start? Begin with Apps such as the generic Bible App, or (for ladies), the SheReadsTruth App. There are incredible plans on them, ranging from a couple of days, to an entire year’s worth of Bible study.
